Deal Would Leave Umbrella Open

April 07, 1998|By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN; Courant Staff Writer

It is a $70 billion merger that creates a financial-services powerhouse second to none on the globe. But when Travelers Group and Citicorp condensed their giant deal into a press release Monday morning, they waited no later than the second paragraph before resolving a question that only seems like a small detail:

What becomes of the big red umbrella?

Fear not: The corporate name may change -- and change, and change -- but the Travelers umbrella will stay open.

Citicorp won the name game with the new moniker, Citigroup. But the familiar Travelers umbrella will stay in service as the corporate logo for the merged company.

That decision should be good for both companies. Travelers preserves a piece of company lore born when Ulysses S. Grant was just settling into the White House. And Citicorp, which has been trying to build an international brand image a la Coca-Cola, gets a venerable marketing icon.

``The umbrella perseveres,'' said William Wondriska, a graphic designer who updated the Travelers logo more than 25 years ago.

``That symbol has tremendous recognition. I think it's one of the classic examples of total brand identity.''

Wondriska said Travelers Chairman Sandy Weill and Citicorp chief John Reed may not have a graphic designer's eyes. ``But these are smart guys, and I think they recognize a good business decision,'' he said.

And a fitting one at that. The merger of Travelers and Citicorp is extraordinary not only for its size, but also because the deal breaches the traditional separation of banking and insurance services. Financial-services companies have been lobbying Congress for permission to get into other fields, and if Travelers and Citicorp merge successfully, what better symbol for a catch-all financial-services company than an open umbrella?

The Travelers umbrella first appeared in an 1870 ad featuring a smiling, barefooted boy on a bench reading newspaper headlines about Travelers and, inexplicably, barefooted boys. Between the youngster's knees is a large folded umbrella with the words TRAVELERS INSURANCE written across it.

The boy's boots also say TRAVELERS INSURANCE, and were it not for a twist of fate, Travelers Corp. might conceivably have a gigantic boot outside its Manhattan offices, rather than the huge umbrella perched there.

It's also good news for umbrella makers; over the years, tens of thousands of red umbrellas have been bought by agents as sales promotions.

Travelers formally adopted the umbrella as its logo in 1959, although the image was in use in various forms before that. Over the years, the symbol has become ever simpler and more abstract. The newest rendition has no spokes and no adornments on the thin J-shaped handle.

And, of course, it is red, which is the magic color of marketing. It may be coincidence, it may be psychology, but brands associated with the color red -- such as Coca-Cola and Campbell's Soup -- have a remarkably strong track record against the competition.

``That umbrella means a lot to a lot of people,'' said Steven Wolfberg, creative director at Cronin & Co., a Glastonbury advertising agency. Wolfberg likes the idea of merging Citicorp's name with Travelers' logo.

``You're getting a very strong image, along with a very recognizable name,'' he said. ``So perhaps you're getting the best of both worlds.''